Children in schools across America still celebrate Columbus Day, Halloween, and Thanksgiving. For Columbus Day, they are taught theat he discovered the New World in 1492; for Halloween, they are taught that it is a time to dress up in costumes, avoid tricks and pranks, and get free candy; for Thanksgiving Day, they are taught that the Native Americans ( Iroquois, Wampanoag) and the Europeans (Pilgrims) all sat down and had a peaceful, non-racist, non-judgemental feast.
But, history through the centuries has taught us modern-day Americans a more realistic truth of these holidays.
Columbus, the Admiral of the Sea, brought slavery, disease and decimation to the native people of the New World.
Halloween celebrates the Celtic pagan festival of Samhaim.
Thanksgiving Day divulges that it was the native people of America who taught the Puritans to survive a harsh world and by doing so saved the Europeans from starvation, and sealed the native people’s doom.
Knowing what we know now about the origins of Columbus Day, Halloween, and Thanksgiving, some people decide to continue celebrating these days. Some people decide against celebrating them.
One such person who has decided against the celebration of these days is Anne Foley.
Ms. Foley is school principal of John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Somerville, Massachusetts. In an e-mail to the teachers at the school she has banned the celebration of Columbus Day, Halloween and Thanksgiving. Verbatim, her statement to the teachers:
“When we were young we might have been able to claim ignorance of the atrocities that Christopher Columbus committed against the indigenous peoples. We can no longer do so. For many of us and our students celebrating this particular person is an insult and a slight to the people he annihilated. On the same lines, we need to be careful around the Thanksgiving Day time as well.”
Thanksgiving, with the mythical roast turkey and gravy image that is evoked when the third Thursday in November comes around. Columbus Day, a holiday that has divided this nation for years. Halloween, with its celebration of ghosts, goblins, and devils, has not set well with many people due to their religion. Some people have even left a murderous legacy on Halloween, such as the “Candy Man” murderer known as “The Man Who Killed Halloween.”
No to be left out the racist caricatures and stereotypes that abound during Halloween when some White college students dress up in so-called “ghetto garb” in blackface, or dress as Pocahontas or their idea of a native American, a Geisha or a “Gypsy” (Roma).
With the exception of Halloween, both Columbus Day and Thanksgiving are federal holidays.
With knowledge must come wisdom. The teaching of the history behind Columbus Day, Halloween, and Thanksgiving needs to be broadened.
Children need to learn the significance of holiday celebrations.
Such knowledge would include learning of the past–the good, along with the bad.
The greatest gift that parents and teachers can give their students is the ability to think, reason, and understand all aspects of a holiday, and thereby acquire skills that help them to honor and respect the humanity of all people.
Ann
